Reporter Hua Ling
Black is one of the most common colors for textile and apparel products. However, it has recently been rumored on the Internet that "often wearing black underwear is prone to cancer".
So, is there a scientific basis for this claim?
Most countries have banned harmful dyes
Including black dyes, the dyes currently used in China's textile industry are mainly chemically synthesized dyes. These dyes themselves are not toxic. Song Lidan, an engineer at the China Textile Construction Planning Institute, said.
According to the data, azo dyes are currently the largest chemical synthetic dyes, which are often used in the dyeing and printing of a variety of natural and synthetic fiber fabrics. "Azo dyes themselves are non-toxic, but a small part of azo dyes will reduce their reactions with human metabolites under certain conditions, releasing carcinogenic aromatic amines and harming human health. Song Lidan said.
However, this part of azo dyes has been banned in most countries, including China. China's national mandatory standard "National Basic Safety Technical Specifications for Textile Products" (GB 18401-2010) clearly stipulates that "decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes are prohibited".
Textile and garment products sold in the Chinese market must comply with the provisions of the mandatory standard. The above provisions are also applicable to black textile and garment products, so black clothes of qualified quality are safe and harmless. Song Lidan said.
Pay attention to the product label when purchasing
Some consumers reported that some black textile and clothing products will "dye" black after wearing. Song Lidan believes that there are two main reasons for this situation: first, the dye residue is caused by insufficient washing of clothes in production; The second is that the dyefastness of the product is not up to standard, and the color is transferred to the first in the process of soaking in sweat or rubbing with **.
The National Basic Safety Technical Specifications for Textile Products (GB 18401-2010) stipulates 5 levels of dyefastness, and proposes that infant textile products should meet the requirements of Class A, products in direct contact with ** should at least meet the requirements of Class B, and products with non-direct contact should at least meet the requirements of Class C.
Song Lidan suggested that consumers should choose products that meet the requirements of Class A or Class B when buying textile and apparel products that are in direct contact, and products that meet the requirements of Class A when buying infant textiles.
In addition to this, there are also people on the Internet who have suggested that "poor quality fabrics are often dyed black to cover up the flaws on the fabric". Is this a credible claim?
Song Lidan said that at present, the fabric weaving of the modern textile industry has achieved large-scale automation and intelligence, and the control level of fabric quality of relevant enterprises has also been greatly improved. Some enterprises have applied artificial intelligence visual inspection technology to achieve the best monitoring of fabric quality.
From weaving to dyeing, the company will set a roll of cloth in the design stage. In the weaving process, the company will carry out quality inspection and monitoring of each link to improve quality and reduce the defect rate. Song Lidan said that at this stage, it is almost impossible to dye the defective fabrics black.
When purchasing clothing, consumers should purchase products with quality assurance from formal channels, and check whether the products have complete identification or tags, including whether the product name, product standard number, manufacturer's name and address, product number, type or specification, safety category, fiber composition and content, maintenance method, product quality inspection certificate, etc. are clearly marked. Song Lidan reminded that it is recommended to buy carefully for clothing with unclear labels, unknown labeling content, and too low **. In addition, consumers should properly wash the newly bought textile and garment products, especially those that are in direct contact with the ** category, and wash off the floating colors that may exist on the products, so that they can wear them more assured.
*:Technology**.